Password security and why you should create more secure passwords.
Especially if any of yours look like one of these:

So first - the problem. The reason this is such a big deal is that hackers are using a lot of tricks to gain access to your accounts.  They do things like writing applications which will try to guess your passwords by attempting to log in to a common site hundreds of times.  So a password that is not easy to guess is really important.  And you've probably recently heard about websites that have been hacked, resulting in millions of personal records being stolen.  Many of those records are passwords.

It's important and most people consistently use terrible passwords.  The analysis of the 32 million user password breach at RockYou certainly highlights that.  Last December the password database of RockYou—a service that lets people create multimedia slideshows and other media creations for social networks like Facebook—was completely compromised.  The login and password information of 32 million users was captured by a single hacker who released the passwords—sans matching logins—to the public.

Now the good news: changing your password doesn't take long and many sites offer password strength meters so that you know your new password is well protected.

Things you can do to create more secure passwords and if you're not doing it right now you need to start:

• Use passphrases instead of passwords. Even if you're limited on the number of characters you can use, turn a long phrase into a jumbled short one. "I like bread and butter, especially at breakfast time." can become "Ilbab$eabt!".
• Avoid the obvious. You probably won't forget your own birthday, but resist the urge to make it your password.
• Avoid dictionary words. Software that guesses passwords based on standard language, including words spelled backwards, common misspellings, and substitutions (like using a 3 instead of the letter e) are all too easy to find. Mix up your words, or use randomly generated strings of letters and numbers.
• Longer is better. The longer the password the harder it is to crack. Passwords should be longer than six characters and include a mix of uppercase, lowercase, and special characters.
• Use the entire keyboard. Combine numbers, letters (upper and lower case) and symbols to create a unique, secure password.  Your password should never be a name, a slang word, or any word in the dictionary. It should never include part of your name or your email address.
• Keep an eye on your accounts. You keep an eye on your credit card statements, right? The same theory applies for your other online accounts. Check them from time to time for suspicious activity. If you see anything out of the ordinary change your password and alert your account provider.
• Use a different password for every single site you access

The last one is extremely important.  RockYou stored all their passwords in plaintext which isn't—shockingly!—as uncommon as you would think. If your password is compromised because of the stupidity of the people running the service you use, it doesn't matter if you had an awesome password of enormous length and variety.  If you use that awesome password on other services, those services have now been compromised.